Pre-delivery inspection auditing system and method

ABSTRACT

A vehicle email notification system in which pre-delivery inspections by dealers can be automatically audited to help insure that vehicles are being delivered to customers with the proper initial values of such things as tire pressure and fluid levels. The notification system uses triggers to initiate the generation and transmission of email messages that provide diverse types of dynamic vehicle information to the owner or other authorized subscriber. This information is also used by the manufacturer to determine dealer compliance with pre-delivery inspection requirements. The email notifications are triggered by different events, some of which are independent of the vehicle (e.g., a monthly trigger), and others of which occur at the vehicle, such as a mileage or low oil life trigger. The notification system builds and sends to the subscriber an email message that contains the dynamic vehicle information and identifies any detected vehicle condition for which action is needed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/755,329, filed Dec. 31, 2005, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to techniques for wirelessly collecting vehicleinformation and providing that information to the vehicle owner or otherauthorized person.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telematics units are now widely in use on vehicles to provide driverswith various types of wireless assistance services (WAS). For example,“roadside assistance” which historically involved a disabled vehicle anda physical visit to the vehicle by a serviceman, can now in manyinstances be provided remotely via wireless telecommunication with thevehicle through existing cellular network facilities. Thus, a telephonecall to a call center (WAS center) can be used to electronically unlockdoors where the keys have inadvertently been locked inside. Also,navigation and emergency assistance services can be obtained by voicecommunication with an advisor at the call center. Monitoring of vehicleoperating conditions by the call center is also possible via thetelematics device. For example, an air bag deployment event can beautomatically reported to the call center where it triggers a returncall to the vehicle from a live advisor to determine if emergencyservices are needed. Other vehicle data such as diagnostic trouble codes(DTCs) can similarly be reported to the call center.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided amethod of obtaining information indicative of a condition of a vehicleat delivery to a customer, comprising the steps of:

-   -   (a) enrolling a subscriber into a vehicle notification message        service following delivery of the vehicle to the subscriber;    -   (b) accessing vehicle data using a telematics unit of the        vehicle;    -   (c) transmitting the vehicle data from the telematics unit to a        central data system;    -   (d) constructing an initial notification message at the central        data system using the vehicle data;    -   (e) sending the notification message to the subscriber via an        electronic messaging system; and    -   (f) determining whether at least one vehicle condition meets a        predefined criteria using the vehicle data.

In this way, the initial acquisition and notification to the subscriberof things such as oil life, tire pressure, diagnostic status, etc. canalso be used to check whether the vehicle was delivered in the propercondition, and this can be used to determine dealer compliance withpre-delivery inspection requirements of the manufacturer.

Apart from customer enrollment, other ways can also be used to determinethat delivery of the vehicle from the dealer has occurred. Thus, inaccordance with another aspect of the invention, there is disclosed amethod of obtaining information indicative of a condition of a vehicleat delivery to a customer, comprising the steps of:

-   -   (a) receiving information from a dealer indicating that the        customer has taken delivery of the vehicle;    -   (b) accessing vehicle data using a telematics unit of the        vehicle;    -   (c) transmitting the vehicle data from the telematics unit to a        central data system; and    -   (d) determining whether at least one vehicle condition meets a        predefined criteria using the vehicle data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention will hereinafter bedescribed in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein likedesignations denote like elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an email notification system constructed inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the email notification system of FIG. 1showing additional details of the vehicle electronics system, VDU, andWAS center depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary email notification message produced by the systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 provides an overview of the process for enrollment in the emailnotification system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an overview of the steps carried out by the subscriber and WAScenter advisor in the enrollment and email generation process;

FIG. 6 provides greater detail concerning the enrollment process;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the process for VDU handling of triggers withinthe email notification system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of notification processing following the triggerprocessing of FIG. 7; and

FIGS. 9 a-9 c are flowcharts of different methods that can be carriedout using the email notification system of FIG. 1 to determine theinitial vehicle condition when the vehicle is first delivered by adealer to a customer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following terms used herein have the ascribed meanings. “Vehicledata” means information concerning a particular vehicle's condition oroperation; for example, mileage, remaining oil life, GPS coordinates,door lock state, diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), diagnostic results,air bag activation. “Vehicle information” is information related to aparticular vehicle; for example, vehicle data, maintenance information,recall information, wireless assistance services (WAS) accountinformation, satellite radio account information. A “subscriber” is aperson or entity who either has legal title to the vehicle (e.g., apurchaser, corporation, parent) or has possession of the vehicle forregular use (e.g., a lessee, employee driving a company car, licensedminor), or both (e.g., a purchaser-driver), and who has opted to receiveelectronic messages from the email notification system. “Owner” is usedinterchangeably with “subscriber” and has the same meaning, except thatan owner need not necessarily be one that receives electronic messagesfrom the email notification system. A “trigger” is a defined event orvehicle condition that, when met, initiates notification processing(e.g., every 30 days, remaining oil life <20%, mileage passes over25,000 miles, ABS DTC received). “Notification processing” is theprocess of determining whether an electronic message should be sent to asubscriber and, if so, the content of the message. “Language characters”are the individual components of a written language (e.g., alphanumericcharacters), whether represented graphically using a graphics fileformat or represented textually or as characters using, for example,ASCII or some other type of numerical encoding. A “diagnostic result” isspecific or general information concerning a monitored vehiclecomponent, system, or operating condition. A specific diagnostic resultcould be, for example, the amount of oil life remaining (e.g., on apercentage basis 0-100%), whereas a general diagnostic result could be,for example, a graphical indicator such as a green, yellow, or redgraphic that indicates whether some action is required to address one ormore of the vehicle conditions and possibly the importance or severityof the vehicle condition. An “electronic message generating system”(EMGS) is an electronic system that builds and sends electronic messagessuch as Internet email messages. An “electronic messaging system” is apublic or private email system, or any other system suitable fortransmitting electronic messages to specific recipients, including textmessaging using SMS (short messaging services) and including MMS(multimedia messaging services).

The illustrated embodiment is directed to a vehicle email notificationsystem and method in which triggers are used to initiate the generationand transmission of email messages that provide diverse types of dynamicvehicle information to the subscriber. The email notifications aretriggered by different events, some of which are independent of thevehicle (e.g., a 30 day trigger to provide the subscriber with a monthlyvehicle status report), and others of which occur at the vehicle, suchas a mileage or low oil life trigger. Upon occurrence of a trigger, thenotification system builds and sends to the subscriber an email messagethat contains the dynamic vehicle information and identifies anydetected vehicle condition for which action is required or desired. Thevehicle information generally falls into four categories: (1) diagnosticinformation; (2) maintenance information; (3) recall information, and(4) ancillary services information, such as account information for suchthings as wireless assistance services or satellite radio services. Theemail notification messages also provide supplemental information suchas dealer contact information, regional specific information (such as aparticular state's child car seat laws or front passenger seat beltlaws), maintenance service pricing quotes and/or coupons, statelicensing renewal date and/or notification, and lease financinginformation (e.g., next monthly payment due date and amount). These andother features will be discussed below in greater detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the disclosed email notification system 100 containsa number of different system components interconnected by one or morecommunication links. The vehicle 110 communicates with the remainder ofthe notification system via a wireless communication network 140, suchas a cellular communication system that uses CDMA or other suitablecommunication technology. For this purpose, the vehicle 110 is equippedwith a wireless communication module having a suitable modem to enablevoice and data transmission over the wireless communication network 140.Also onboard the vehicle are various vehicle systems modules (VSMs) thataccess different types of vehicle information which can then betransmitted via the wireless communication module. These vehicle systemsinclude such things as a diagnostics module that accesses differentvehicle systems to determine whether any fault conditions exist. Forexample, the diagnostic module can access the engine and powertrainsystems, the air bag system, antilock braking system, and the wirelesscommunication module itself to obtain diagnostic information and eveninitiate a diagnostic check of these systems. Apart from diagnostics,the vehicle can include vehicle body and engine computers that canprovide other dynamic vehicle information such as mileage and remainingoil life information. The construction and operation of each of theseonboard vehicle systems is well known in the art and need not bediscussed here in greater detail.

The vehicle communicates with a vehicle data upload (VDU) 160 systemthat lies at the operational heart of the notification system 100. Ingeneral, the VDU 160 handles initial configuration of each subscriber'snotification account upon enrollment, the setting and processing oftriggers, the acquisition of data needed for populating the emailnotification message, and the initiation of actual email generation.These functions are implemented utilizing information obtained from avariety of databases and other systems including, in particular, a VDUadministration tool (VAT) 182, an electronic message generating system(EMGS) 184, an email hosting facility 186, a wireless assistanceservices (WAS) center 170 as well as a user-configurable WAS website188, and several other systems that supply information to the WAS center170. As shown in FIG. 1, these other systems include a subscriberservices center 190, a CRM application 192, a quality information system194, and a third party customer data and WAS subscription service 196.Rather than maintaining the data in distributed databases or othersystems, all of the needed information can be stored in a singledatabase using different schemas in the database. These and otherapproaches for data management and handling will be known to thoseskilled in the art.

The VDU administration tool (VAT) 182 is used to set up the VDU 160 andEMGS 184 by providing the basic content of the email messages along withvarious configuration items for the generation and sending of themessages. For example, the VAT 182 can provide various configurableparameters such as the type of email (plain text, html, SMS), the numberand timing of email resends when a failed send is detected, and theconditions under which an alternate email address is used. The VAT isalso used to specify various aspects of the VDU-to-vehiclecommunication, such as the conditions under which a call is placed bythe vehicle back to the VDU (e.g., vehicle ignition ON only, OFF only,or DON'T CARE) or the grace period (e.g., 60 days) that the subscriberis given following the end of their WAS subscription period before thevehicle-to-VDU communication capability is switched off.

The email notification messages generated by the system include bothstatic content (predetermined text and possibly graphics) as well asdynamic content (information that normally changes over time). Thisstatic and dynamic content is accessed from different sources shown inFIG. 1 and combined into one digital file that constitutes the emailmessage. Constructing the email message is preferably accomplished usingone or more predefined templates with the VAT 182 specifying whichtemplate is to be used. Different templates can be used for differentvehicle types and/or different types of triggers. The construction andcontent of the email messages and the use of these templates will bediscussed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 3.

The electronic message generating system (EMGS) 184 is initiated by theVDU 160 as the result of a vehicle trigger received by the VDU. Itobtains the dynamic and static vehicle information from the VDU 160 andin some cases directly from other sources and builds the email messageusing the predefined template that has been specified by the VAT 182.Once the email is built, it is sent via the Internet by way of the emailhosting facility 186 which actually handles the queuing and transmissionof the email using standard Internet mail protocols such as smtp.

Some of the vehicle or subscriber-specific static information used inthe email message (subscriber name, dealer information, WAS accountnumber, etc.) is obtained from the WAS database 174 which includesinformation originally obtained from yet other systems. For example,basic customer (subscriber) information can be maintained by a thirdparty service 196 that provides a single source of cleansed customerdata along with subscription and renewal information for their WASaccount. Customer information from the CRM system 192 can also be usedincluded in the WAS database 174. Subscriber-provided informationinputted into a subscriber's website 190 (e.g., the mileage at the lastoil change) can also be provided to the WAS database 174. Thisinformation can be used by the WAS center 170 to assist a live advisorin handling customer inquiries and addressing vehicle problems monitoredby the WAS center. For the generation of the email notifications, atleast some of this information is pulled from the WAS database 174 bythe VDU 160 and provided to the EMGS 184 for inclusion in the emailmessage. Personalized information previously supplied by the subscriberto a user-customizable WAS website 188 (MyWAS) can also be accessedautomatically by EMGS 184 and included into the email. An example wouldbe a user-supplied digital photograph of their vehicle which could beincluded in the email.

The subscriber can also customize certain aspects of the system, such asthe number of days used for the periodic triggers that generate statusemail notifications. Thus, rather than having a 30 day trigger, thesubscriber can customize the trigger to occur perhaps once per week oronce per quarter. This can be done via the subscriber website 190 whichprovides limited access to the VAT 182 to configure these items in theVDU 160.

Vehicle diagnostic and other information obtained from the vehicle bythe VDU 160 can also be provided to the WAS database 174 for laterretrieval by a live advisor or for other purposes. Also, at least someof this information can be supplied to the quality information system194 for warranty analysis, trending and other evaluations. The provisionof such information to the quality information system 194 can beautomatic on every trigger, only for certain triggers, or only undercertain conditions. For example, the mileage and oil life reading can beprovided to the system 194 only in those instances where there is a DTCor particular DTC that has occurred.

Before turning to the specifics of the email notification messageitself, reference is made to FIG. 2 which provides some additionalinformation concerning various centralized and onboard vehicle systemsneeded to implement the email notification system 100. The constructionand operation of these onboard vehicle systems will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art given the functional descriptions provided herein incombination with the knowledge generally available about existingsystems currently in use and the level of skill in the art. As shown inFIG. 2, motor vehicle 110 is depicted as a typical passenger sedan, andit will be appreciated that other mobile vehicles such as marinevehicles, aircraft, and other automobiles (e.g., vans, gas and dieseltrucks, etc.) can be used as long as they are fitted with an appropriatewireless communication module that is connected onboard to communicatewith the one or more vehicle systems from which vehicle information isto be obtained. Located within vehicle 110 are various electronicmodules that include a telematics unit 120 connected by way of aon-board vehicle network 112 to one or more vehicle system modules(VSMs) 130. As will be described in greater detail, telematics unit 120includes the vehicle's wireless communication module and this unitprovides communication and interactivity with the driver and withvarious remote locations including the VDU 160, WAS center 170, and thedealer service center 180. The VSMs 130 provide various on-board vehiclediagnostic, monitoring, control, and reporting functions. For example,one VSM 130 can be used for controlling engine operation (e.g., fuelinjection and ignition timing), while another VSM 130 can be a safetysystem that handles monitoring and deployment of air bags or other SIRsafety systems on the vehicle. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the VSMsinclude a diagnostic VSM 132, such as an on-board diagnostic system(e.g., an OBD-II system) which performs a diagnostic check of variousvehicle sensors.

In facilitating interactions among the various communication andelectronic modules, vehicle communication network 112 uses any suitablenetwork communication approaches, such as controller-area network (CAN),ISO Standard 9141, ISO Standard 11898 for high-speed applications, ISOStandard 11519 for lower speed applications, SAE Standard J1850 forhigh-speed and lower speed applications, and/or the like.

Telematics unit 120 can be implemented in various ways, but in theillustrated embodiment includes a processor 121, a wirelesscommunications module 122 for communication to and from the vehicle viaone or more antennas 123, a digital memory 124 which stores programs 125and a database 126, one or more pushbutton switches 127 and a microphone128 and one or more speakers 129 for enabling voice communication withthe WAS live advisor and for use in hands free calling (HFC). Processor121 can be implemented in various ways known to those skilled in theart, such as by a microprocessor or an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC). Processor 121 executes one or more computer programs 125to carry out its various functions of monitoring and processing data andcommunicating with the vehicle system modules 130, vehicle user, andremote locations. As a part of the email notification system 100, it isalso used to set the various triggers requested by the VDU 160 andmonitor for the occurrence of a trigger and then initiate a call back tothe VDU when the trigger occurrence is detected. Alternatively, adedicated VSM 130 could be provided for trigger handling.

Communications module 122 provides wireless communication via cellular(e.g., CDMA, GSM), satellite, or other wireless path, and includes theability to provide for both voice and data communications. This allowsdata communication with at least the VDU 160, as well as voice and, ifdesired, data communication with the WAS center 170 and dealer 180.

Memory 124 can any digital storage device that providescomputer-readable storage of data and programs for use by processor 121.This includes volatile and/or non-volatile memory storage and can beimplemented as one or more separate physical devices.

Programs 125 include one or more computer programs that are executed byprocessor 121 to carry out the various functions of telematics unit 120.The database 126 includes storage of the triggers set by the VDU 160 aswell as associated information such as a listing of the vehicle systemsto be accessed for purposes of acquiring and reporting dynamic vehicleinformation back to the VDU.

Although depicted in FIG. 2 as separate individual modules, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that many of the components oftelematics unit 120 can be integrated together, or integrated and/orshared with other vehicle systems so that, for example, memory 124 canbe incorporated into processor 121 or located outside of telematics unit120 and shared with one or more other vehicle systems.

Wireless carrier system 140 can be a cellular and/or satellite wirelesscommunication system used to transmit voice and data between the vehicle110 and various remote locations such as shown in FIG. 1. In oneembodiment, wireless carrier system 140 is implemented as a CDMA, GSM orother cellular communication system 142 that exchanges voice and databetween the vehicle 110 and communication network 150. Additionally oralternatively, wireless communication can be by way of satellitetransmission which uses one or more satellites 144 to connect thevehicle to the communication network 150 via, for example, a central,ground-based satellite facility 146. Communication network 150 can be aland-based wired system such as the public telephone system and/or cablesystem used for telephony and data communication including communicationthat is carried out over the Internet. For purposes of the embodimentdiscussed herein, the wireless communication between the vehicle 110 andVDU 160 is by way of a cellular system 142 and the satellite 144 is usedto provide ancillary services such as GPS coordinates or a satelliteradio feed.

VDU 160 is a central data system that can be implemented using one ormore computer systems located either at an independent remote locationor, for example, at the WAS center 170. A typical computer system isshown in FIG. 2 and includes a modem and/or router 162, a computer 164,and database 166 all connected by an Ethernet LAN 168. Database 166 canbe implemented using a separate network attached storage (NAS) device orcan be stored on a computer 164 itself, or can be located elsewhere, asdesired. The computer 164 has an application program that handles all ofthe VDU processing, including communication with the vehicle 110 and thesetting and processing of triggers. VDU 160 can also communicate withWAS center 170 and/or the dealer service center 180 either via network150 or by some more direct path. Suitable hardware and softwareconfigurations are known to those skilled in the art. While VDU 160 isdepicted as being implemented using a single computer 164, it will beappreciated that the various functions carried out by the VDU can beimplemented using a number of local or distributed computers.Furthermore, VAT 182 and EMGS 184 can both be implemented either asstandalone systems or can be separate processes running on the samehardware used by the VDU 160.

WAS center 170 can be one or more locations staffed by one or more liveadvisors 176 who handle calls from vehicle drivers and/or who monitorfor various vehicle conditions such as an airbag deployment. The WAScenter can include one or more servers 172 that include the necessarycommunication capabilities with network 150, data storage 174, and a LAN178 for connecting these components together along with the computer(s)used by the live advisors 176. If desired, the VDU 160 can be integratedinto WAS center 170 rather than utilizing two separate systems. Suitablecall center facilities are known and currently in use to provide remotelive assistance in connection with in-vehicle safety and securitysystems. Apart from using live advisors, the advisor 176 can beimplemented as an automaton or a program running on a computeroperatively disposed to respond to subscriber requests.

Dealer service center 180 is a vehicle dealership where vehiclemaintenance and repair is carried out. The dealer service center isconnected by way of communication network 150 with the vehicle 110 sothat the driver can initiate a telephone call with a technician orservice scheduler at the dealership.

Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown an exemplary email notificationmessage generated by the system. The email message is made up at leastin part using language characters, whether as words using the Englishalphabet or a different foreign language that utilizes textual orgraphical characters. The illustrated email message is provided usinghtml to provide attractive formatting and display of the messagecontents. Other markup languages such as xml can be used as well.Alternatively, the email can be provided as plain text with noformatting or markup language used. The email message itself isformatted into a number of regions, including an upper region thatprovides basic vehicle and introductory information, a second regionthat provides diagnostic information, a third region that providesmaintenance information, a fourth region that lists variousnotifications (possible vehicle recalls and ancillary services accountand subscription information), and a fifth region that providesmiscellaneous information such as dealer contact information. As shown,the message can also contain a header and footer, with the headerproviding space for a company logo and tabs that connect the user todifferent websites, such as the main website for the WAS services. Thefooter can provide support contact information, use of information legaldisclaimers, etc.

The first, upper region contains an introductory message such as shown.This message is built using an email template that is particular to thetype of trigger that initiated the email. For example, the illustratedemail message of FIG. 3 is a welcome email that is generated and sent tothe subscriber within 24 hours of their enrollment into the service.Although this email could be automatically generated and sent by thenotification system 100 without communicating with the vehicle 110, itis desirable to include different pieces of vehicle information in theemail message including, for example, mileage, remaining oil life, andthe diagnostic status of various vehicle systems. Thus, this email isbuilt using a welcome template that includes the static content(predefined text) from the template as well as fields denotingvehicle-specific information. These fields are populated with theappropriate data accessed from the WAS database 164 or elsewhere, asdiscussed above. The fields can be identified using xml or in any othersuitable manner. Dynamic content related to the individual subscriber orhis or her demographics can be included in this upper region as well.Similarly, the content of this region could be automatically varied bythe EMGS 184 in accordance with certain features of the subscriber's WASsubscription, such as how long they have been enrolled, where they arein a particular subscription period, and according to other aspectsrelated to where the subscriber is in the WAS lifecycle.

The welcome message text of this first region also identifies threeaction indicators: green (no issues found), yellow (action suggested),and red (immediate attention required). These action indicators arerepresented by symbols as shown, and these symbols and their shorttextual description are preferably included in each email. At the rightside of the first region, a digital photograph of the make and model(and preferably style and color) of the subscriber's vehicle isprovided. This picture can either be accessed from a standard library ofvehicle pictures, or can be a user-supplied photograph of his or her ownvehicle obtained, for example, from the personalized WAS website.Underneath the pictured vehicle is the particular VIN number for thevehicle so that the email provides a convenient source of thisinformation when needed by the subscriber.

The second through fourth regions of the email message are eachseparated into a number of sections, with each section relating to aparticular type of information useful to the subscriber. For thediagnostic region, in the example provided in FIG. 3, it is divided upinto four sections: engine and/or transmission, air bag system, antilockbraking system (ABS), and the vehicle wireless communication module.Each section includes a section label identifying the particular vehiclesystem, a diagnostic test status indicator, and a diagnostic resultindicator. The diagnostic test status indicator identifies whether ornot the diagnostic test of the vehicle system was successful—if so, theemail message includes a “Diagnostic: Completed.” If the test did notcomplete, the message can state “Diagnostic: Failed.” along with arequest to contact the WAS support. The diagnostic result indicatorprovides the subscriber with a general diagnostic result about theparticular vehicle system, and this diagnostic result indicator can beimplemented using the action indicator symbol noted above (green,yellow, or red symbol), and the section can further state whether someaction is required by the owner to address a problem or abnormalcondition identified during the diagnostic test. A hypertext link tomore information can also be provided to give the subscriber additionalinformation about the diagnostic test that was run and what the resultsmean.

The maintenance region of the email message includes a first sectionthat provides information concerning the remaining engine oil life and asecond section that provides vehicle mileage information. The coloredaction indicators are used here as well to identify whether any actionis needed by the owner.

Where some servicing is required, either for maintenance or to addressdiagnostic issues, the email message can include a link to a dealer toschedule the vehicle service, or can provide pricing or couponinformation to encourage the subscriber to obtain the necessary serviceeither from a particular dealer or any local dealer. For example, wherean oil change is needed, the email message can include a notice statingthat the subscriber can print out the email message and take it withthem to the dealer to obtain a discounted price or additional serviceswhen having the engine oil changed. Alternatively, the email message canprovide a link that the subscriber can click to access a dealer coupon,and this coupon can either provide a general discount that is unrelatedto the specific vehicle service needed or can be specifically tailoredto the servicing required (for example, by offering additional relatedservices or by providing specific pricing or discounts for the serviceneeded).

The notification region is separated into four sections: vehiclerecalls, WAS account and subscription information, hands free calling(HFC) account information, and satellite radio account and subscriptioninformation. The recall section lists each recall in effect and canprovide additional detail concerning the purpose and scope of therecall. Only recalls applicable to the particular vehicle involved arereported. The WAS subscription section identifies the subscriber'saccount number, type of service plan, and expiration date, and caninclude additional information if desired. The hands free callingsection provides information on cellular voice telephone services thatare available through the same wireless communication module 122 that isused to provide the WAS services. This section identifies the vehicletelephone number along with account information. For prepaid plans ormonthly plans that offer a fixed number of included minutes, the numberof remaining minutes is provided. The satellite radio account sectionprovides account and subscription information for satellite radioservices. As shown for the WAS subscription section, any of theserenewable services can include a button in their individual section toredirect the subscriber to a subscription renewal website, and thesebuttons can be provided only once the renewal date approaches (e.g.,within 120 days of the renewal date). Also, each of the ancillaryservices sections preferably include the ability for the user to clickthrough to the service website itself to obtain additional accountinformation, etc. Other sections can be shown in this notificationregion. For example, where the vehicle's registration is near expiration(e.g., within 60 days), if this information is included in one of thedatabases accessible to the VDU or EMGS, then a state registrationrenewal notification with contact information and hypertext links can beprovided in the email.

The fifth region can be used for miscellaneous information such as thedealer contact shown. This can include a link to the dealer websiteand/or selection of a “mailto:” or similar link that initiates an emailmessage to the dealer. Some or all of the vehicle information (VIN,mileage, diagnostic results, etc.) can be automatically included in thisdealer email by suitable programming or scripting known to those skilledin the art. Alternatively, the entire subscriber's notification emailcan be included in or attached (e.g., forwarded) as a part of thisdealer email. Apart from dealer information, insurance information andlease or loan information can be included in this fifth region as well,or can be included in another dedicated or shared region of the email.These other sections can include information for the subscriber such asinsurance contact information or loan balance and payment due dateinformation, as well as the ability to direct an email to the insurer orloan company.

As mentioned above in connection with the various vehicle systems thatprovide vehicle information and wireless communication, each of theancillary service systems that provide, for example, the WAS, HFC, andsatellite radio services, are existing systems and the construction andoperation of these systems are known to those skilled in the art.Similarly the interconnections and programming necessary to interfacewith these systems and extract the desired accounting and subscriptioninformation are also known to those skilled in the art.

In some instances, there will be no information to be placed in aparticular region or section of a region. For example, when there are norecalls in effect for the vehicle, or once the vehicle has had therecall servicing performed, the recall section will be empty. Ifdesired, this can be implemented by a short message placed in thesection such as “No recalls in effect.” Alternatively, it may bedesirable to eliminate the section altogether, in which case the emailtemplate will include a provision for collapsing the section out ofexistence if there is no data to display. This can be done for otherregions; for example, where the vehicle does not have an ABS system, oras another example, if the notification system is designed to allowsubscribers to customize their email reports, one subscriber might wishto display powertrain systems diagnostic information whereas anothermight not. Rather than providing separate templates for each suchpotential combination of notifications, the email template can be setupto collapse the undesired sections of the diagnostic region for thoseusers who do not want to see that powertrain information. Thissubscriber customization could be implemented via the VAT 182 throughthe subscriber website 190, and the configuration for that subscribercan be stored in the VDU database 164. Preferably, the sections arecollapsed only when it is desired not to display the related information(e.g., no recalls in effect, or subscriber does not want powertraininformation included). Where there is no data available for a sectionthat is to be displayed (e.g., the diagnostic test failed and no datahas been reported), then rather than collapsing the section, adiagnostic failed message is displayed, as discussed further above. Thissame approach can be used for the other regions so that, for example,where no satellite radio account information is available because thatthird party system is offline, then that fact would be noted rather thancollapsing the satellite radio section out of existence.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is provided an overview of the processfor enrollment into the notification system 100, setting and processingof triggers, and the subsequent generation and transmission of thenotification emails. The subscriber can enroll via one of severalmethods, two of which are shown. As one method, the subscriber canenroll through a website that is either dedicated to this service orincorporated into a more comprehensive vehicle services website, such asthe subscriber website 190 shown in FIG. 1. A second method is byplacing a call from the vehicle to a WAS live advisor 176 which can bedone by using the WAS advisor call button 127 mounted in the vehicle toinitiate a voice call with the advisor. The live advisor 176 then hascomputer access to the subscriber's account information and to the VDU160 for the purpose of carrying out the enrollment. Other methods ofenrollment include a direct landline call into the VDU 160 or enrollmentvia the dealer 180 from which the vehicle was originally purchased orleased. Once enrolled into the service, the VDU 160 initiates acommunication session with the vehicle 110 which, in the disclosedembodiment involves placing a call to the vehicle wireless communicationmodule 122 via the wireless communication network 140. During this call,the VDU 160 supplies the vehicle with one or more triggers. This caninclude a time based trigger (e.g., monthly) and/or triggers based onvehicle conditions (e.g., the occurrence of certain DTCs or an oil lifetrigger). Then, upon occurrence of a trigger, the vehicle 110 initiatesa communication session (e.g., call) with the VDU 160 and supplies thedynamic vehicle information needed for the email notification message.The VDU 160 stores this information either internally in the VDUdatabase 174 and/or provides it to the WAS database 164 for storagethere. The VDU also initiates the EMGS 184 process to build and thensend the email message to the subscriber.

In this embodiment, all triggers are set in the vehicle and allmonitoring for the occurrence of a trigger happens at the vehicle.However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that atleast some of the triggers can be monitored at the VDU end and then acall placed to the vehicle to obtain the desired diagnostic and otherinformation.

FIG. 5 depicts the process flow involving the subscriber and liveadvisor 176 in the enrollment and email generation process. Theindividual steps shown in FIG. 5 are referenced below with numeralsenclosed in parentheses. Enrollment via the live advisor involves aninitial call from the subscriber to opt into the email notificationprogram (500). When done via a button press within the vehicle, theneeded vehicle specific information (e.g., VIN) is provided to the liveadvisor automatically which enables him or her to access the properinformation concerning the vehicle and owner. Much of the ownerinformation is normally accessible as the result of a customer deliveryrecord (CDR) executed by the dealer at the time of vehicle sale. Usingthis information, the live advisor initiates the email notificationprogram for the subscriber (502), and this typically involves the VDUsetting an initial trigger to generate (504, 506) a welcome email asshown in FIG. 3, and this will then be followed by automaticallytriggered periodic emails (e.g., once every 30 days). For subscribersalready enrolled, a call to the WAS center 170 can be used to speciallyrequest a notification email or a resend (508, 510) of the most recentemail. This can be done via a button press of pushbutton 127 to accessthe live advisor 176 or to access a voice response unit which translatesthe driver's request into a command that is sent to the VDU 160 togenerate the email notification message.

When enrolling via a web interface, such as the subscriber center 190,the system authenticates the subscriber via the identification providedby the user login (512) and from there the relevant vehicle andsubscriber data is accessed and displayed for the subscriber (514). Thesubscriber can then complete the enrollment process following which theinitial trigger is set in the vehicle that ultimately results in thewelcome email and subsequent email notifications (504, 506).

Portions of the enrollment process can be automated and FIG. 6 depictsgreater detail concerning these features. Initially, the manufacturerhotlines the vehicle's wireless communication module 122 prior todelivery to the dealer (600). This hotlining can be carried out throughthe wireless network carrier and it causes any calls from the vehicle tobe redirected to the vehicle manufacturer for proper setup of thevehicle wireless account. Prior to delivery to the dealer, themanufacturer can also set a 400 mile trigger on the vehicle (602) whichwill be used to help insure that the manufacturer receives the owner(customer) information and an opportunity to enroll the owner in theemail notification program and other services (WAS, HFC, satelliteradio, etc.). When the vehicle is delivered to the customer, the dealercreates a customer delivery record (CDR) that is generated (604) andthen transmitted to the manufacturer and made available to thenotification system 100. This CDR is used to automatically create asubscriber account for the vehicle (606). Alternatively, the account canbe created using data obtained from the subscriber via a website (608)such as through the subscriber center website 190. Once the subscriberaccount is created (606), the system attempts to connect to the vehicle(610, 612) and, if not successful, implements a retry strategy (614)that might involve, for example, another call attempt after apredetermined amount of time or at a predetermined time of day. Once acall to the vehicle is established, the VDU 160 then sets up itsconfiguration for that vehicle (616), sets one or more triggers on thevehicle (618), and then completes the carrier provisioning (620) for HFCcalling, etc. Apart from that discussed elsewhere in this description,the VDU setup configuration involves obtaining the station ID (STID) ofthe vehicle's wireless communication module 122, associating it with theVIN, and enabling the VDU operation for that STID. The carrierprovisioning ends the hotlining and establishes preferred roaming listsand the like, as will be known to those skilled in the art. The call isthen ended and enrollment is complete (622).

The subscriber can also enroll by pressing the pushbutton 127 in thevehicle (624) and connecting to the live advisor 176 at the WAS center(626). The live advisor accesses the system data to determine whetherthe customer account already exists and whether the station ID (STID) ofthe vehicle's wireless communication module 122 is already entered intothe system (628). If not, the customer account can be manually setup(606) by the live advisor 176 and the initial connection attempt to thevehicle is carried out in the manner discussed above. If the account andSTID are already setup in the system, then the process proceeds to setupthe VDU configuration (616), set the vehicle triggers (618), andcomplete the carrier provisioning (620).

In the event that no CDR is created and supplied by the dealer at thetime of vehicle delivery, and if the customer does not initiateenrollment and setting up of their account, the 400 mile trigger set inthe vehicle by the manufacturer will initiate a call to the WAS center170 when the vehicle odometer has reached 400 miles (630). As with thelive advisor enrollment process, the WAS center 170 checks to determinewhether a customer account already exists and whether the station ID(STID) of the vehicle's wireless communication module 122 is alreadyentered into the system (628). The remaining enrollment and setupprocess is then the same as discussed above in the case of enrollmentusing the live advisor.

As will be appreciated from FIG. 6, as long as an account is setup via,for example, the use of a CDR from the dealer, the enrollment processcan be entirely automated. This can be useful for commercial fleetswhere the purchaser wishes to have all vehicles uniformly enrolled inthe email notification system 100. Automatic enrollment can then occureither directly following the creation of the account using the CDR, orcan occur as the result of the vehicle calling due to the 400 miletrigger. Furthermore, apart from using a factory set (400 mile) trigger,an initial trigger can be set in the vehicle by way of a software robotthat can be downloaded into the vehicle system. When the trigger goesoff in each vehicle, the vehicle calls in and the enrollment isautomatically established using the procedure described above. Thisallows a commercial entity to purchase a fleet of vehicles and thenlater enroll them en masse into the notification system. The equipmentand programming needed to use software robots to download and set thesetriggers on the vehicle are known by those skilled in the art.

Other aspects that might be unique to fleet management can be includedin the notification system 100. For example, for fleet vehicles equippedwith GPS units, the location of the vehicle can be included in the dataprovided from the vehicle following a trigger, and this data can beincluded in the email notification showing where the vehicle is locatedeither in coordinates or by mapping the location and including the mapgraphically in the email. Triggers can then also be defined that arebased on location so that an email notification is generated and sentwhen the vehicle arrives at a particular location or moves outside of adefined geographic region. The email notification messages can be sentto the driver and fleet manager, or to only one of these. Furthermore,messages from the fleet managers to the drivers can be combined into theemail notification messages so that, for example, the manager cangenerate a message to the drivers which causes the VDU to send animmediate callback trigger to each of the vehicles. Once a vehicle thencalls back, the email notification message to the driver is generatedand the manager's message is included in the email.

As discussed above, once enrollment and VDU configuration is complete ina typical individual subscriber scenario, an initial 24 hour trigger isset in the vehicle by a call from the VDU 160 to the vehicle 110. Oncethis trigger goes off in the vehicle, it calls back to the VDU 160 underthe appropriate conditions (e.g., vehicle ignition ON) and provides thevarious vehicle information (mileage, oil life, diagnostic status ofvehicle systems, WAS and other account information, etc.) which is thenincluded in the welcome email that is built by the EMGS 184 and sent tothe subscriber. The VDU then sets one or more additional triggers,preferably during this same call from the vehicle. These triggersinclude, for example, a monthly trigger to give the subscriber acomplete vehicle and account status update once a month, as well as anoil life trigger to warn the subscriber when the remaining oil life isbelow a predefined amount (e.g., less than 20% oil life remaining). Theoil life trigger can be set to go off when the oil life is below thisthreshold or within a range of values (e.g., 19.6% to 20%), but this canresult in multiple triggers (repeat calls from the vehicle) each time itchecks the oil life value. These repeat triggers can be used to sendmultiple messages to the subscriber or, if that is not desired, therepetitive triggers can be ignored by the VDU so only one email messageis sent to the subscriber. Alternatively, the oil life trigger can besetup to go off when the oil life equals a predetermined amount (e.g.,trigger goes off when oil life is at 20%, but not when it is above orbelow this amount), and this latter approach can be used to avoidgetting repeat calls from the vehicle. Multiple oil life trigger pointscan be set if desired. The construction and operation of vehicle systemsthat monitor and determine remaining oil life are known to those skilledin the art.

Some triggers can be persistent triggers that are not cleared when theygo off. For example, a monthly trigger set in the vehicle to go off onthe 15^(th) of each month need not be cleared, but can be left set aslong as monthly triggers are desired. Such a trigger can be set to gooff at a certain time of day so that it only occurs once on theappointed day of the month. Alternatively, some or all of the triggerscan be cleared automatically or by request of the VDU each time they gooff. This provides flexibility in handling different types of triggers.For example, with an oil life trigger, it can be cleared once it goesoff, and can remain cleared with no new oil life trigger set until theoil is changed and the oil life goes back up to a reset point, eitherabove the threshold trigger level (e.g., 20%) or to some higher resetlimit (e.g., above 80%, or back to 100%). Once it is determined that theoil life is back to (or above) the reset point, the oil life trigger isreset which can be done, for example, by a new oil life trigger beingprovided by the VDU. Where the vehicle also uses monthly or othertime-based triggers, these triggers can continue to be processed andused to report oil life regardless of whether the remaining oil life isabove or below the threshold value. Thus, for example, oil lifenotifications can be sent to the subscriber using the following process:

(a) determining a remaining oil life by monitoring data at the vehicle;

(b) sending an oil life value from the vehicle to a central data systemwhen the oil life falls below a first threshold;

(c) sending an electronic message to the subscriber using the oil lifevalue obtained from the central data system;

(d) monitoring the oil life by iteratively repeating step (a); and

(e) repeating steps (b) and (c) only after the oil life has exceeded asecond threshold that is greater than the first threshold; and

(f) periodically repeating the following two steps:

-   -   (f1) sending an oil life value from the vehicle to the central        data system; and    -   (f2) sending an electronic message to the subscriber using the        oil life value obtained from the central data system.

The time-based (periodic) emails of step (f) can be carried out andprocessed independently of the oil life threshold approach of step (b).By using this method, the system avoids sending multiple emails due tolow oil life yet continues to send the periodic (e.g., monthly) emailreports. Once the oil life returns to the reset point (i.e., above thesecond threshold), then another low oil life email will be sent oncethat point is reached. Determination of the resetting of the oil lifeabove the reset point can be done in any suitable manner, including bymonitoring a calculated oil life and comparing it to the secondthreshold, or by detecting that the oil has been changed such as by asystem reset carried out at the service station or dealer at the time ofvehicle servicing. This process can be implemented by the use oftriggers as discussed above, and the monitoring of oil life andresetting of the oil life trigger can be done at the back end (VDU) orcan occur automatically at the vehicle so that no new call to thevehicle is needed to reset the oil life trigger.

When vehicle data is to be transmitted to the VDU as the result of atrigger, this data is preferably sent by the vehicle during thetriggered call that is placed to the VDU by the vehicle. The desiredvehicle data (diagnostic, mileage, etc.) can be pre-specified to thevehicle as a part of the initial setting of the trigger. For example,the vehicle can be configured at the factory or by subsequentprogramming to provide particular vehicle data in response to particulartypes of triggers. This can be done, for example, using a lookup tablein memory where the particular type of trigger is used to determine theparticular type of diagnostics to run and vehicle data to be returned.Then, when a trigger occurs, this data is automatically passed to theVDU during the call from the vehicle. Alternatively, the VDU can specifyduring a particular triggered call from the vehicle exactly what data itwants. In this scenario, the particular customizations of the emailnotification (e.g., include ABS system diagnostics, but not powertrain)can be used by the VDU to specify to the vehicle what data it wants sothat the vehicle need only transmit the desired data.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown an exemplary process forhandling of the triggers by the VDU when a call comes in from thevehicle. The basic function of this routine is to determine whattrigger(s) are to be processed (700) and then initiate that processing.The routine includes lost call handling so that, if the call is droppedor otherwise lost before being completed (702), a lost call notificationis created (704) and a retry strategy is implemented (706). A lost callcan happen, for example, if the vehicle ignition is turned off duringthe call, or the wireless communication with the vehicle is temporarilylost, or the VDU computer system goes offline, or for other reasons. Theretry strategy can involve a set of rules to be followed for lost calls.For example, one retry strategy is for the vehicle to be responsible forre-calling in the event that the call never goes through to the point ofbeing established with the VDU. In this instance the vehicle can retryperiodically, e.g., every 10 minutes, or at an appointed time, until thecall gets through. However, in this retry strategy, if the call goesthrough and connects with the VDU, but is then dropped before beingcomplete, then the VDU can be responsible for calling back eitherperiodically or at a certain time. When the call is initially connectedbetween the vehicle and VDU, either the vehicle's VIN or the wirelesscommunication module's STID can be given to the VDU and, if successfullyreceived, this can be used to transfer to the VDU the responsibility ofcalling back if the call is dropped. When the VDU calls back, thevehicle data that was to be exchanged as a result of the trigger can besent to the VDU. Alternatively, the call back from the VDU can be simplyto set a retry trigger so that, again, the vehicle will thereafter placethe call that is used to transmit the desired vehicle information. Ineither arrangement, the number of retries can be limited to a certainnumber, following which an error notification can be sent to thesubscriber and/or WAS live advisor. This retry strategy is exemplaryonly, and other retry strategies can be used as desired for a particularapplication.

There are a variety of trigger types that can be set in the vehicle,some of which are not used to generate email notifications. Thus, asshown in FIG. 7, the process determines what type of trigger has beenreceived (708). Of these, only the “Email Trigger” (710) is used by theVDU to initiate an email notification message via EMGS 184, and thatEmail Trigger can be one of many different types as discussed above(e.g., a welcome trigger, monthly notification trigger, oil lifetrigger). Other non-email notification types of triggers shown in FIG. 7include a hands free calling (HFC) 30 day trigger (712), a deactivatetrigger (714), a process retry trigger (716), a business vehicle managertrigger (718), an auto DTC trigger (720), a monthly auto trigger (722),and an erase trigger (724). Some of these triggers are used for othersystems and services that are outside of the email notification system.Others can be utilized as part of the notification system, such as thedeactivate trigger (714) that can be set if the subscriber ends his orher subscription to the notification system program, in which case thistrigger can deactivate the VDU processing for that subscriber'sparticular vehicle. Similarly, the erase trigger (724) can be used toerase any existing triggers on the vehicle when the subscriberterminates their subscription to the email notification system program.

Once a particular trigger is identified and processed in FIG. 7, thesystem then checks to see if any additional triggers have occurred thatneed to be processed (726, 728). If so, the process repeats and, if not,the VDU configuration is updated (730) as the result of the triggerprocessing (e.g., new triggers set, etc.).

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart depicting notification processing whenan Email Trigger of FIG. 7 is received. As shown in FIG. 8, theprocessing is distributed over various systems, including the VDU 160, aVehComm system (which is a system that interfaces the VDU to thewireless carrier to send and receive information from the vehicle), thevehicle 110 itself, and the EMGS 184. Assuming the owner is opted intothe email notification system program (800), the particular type ofemail trigger is identified; e.g., welcome, monthly, oil life (802).Then, the VDU requests the needed vehicle data (804) by, for example,requesting that various vehicle diagnostic tests be run. This request isvalidated and processed by the VehComm (806) which then transmits thediagnostic data request to the vehicle where the diagnostics areperformed (808). The vehicle then returns a diagnostic response(including, for example, DTCs), and this diagnostic data is thenconverted into diagnostic results (810) and passed to the VDU to besupplied to the EMGS for inclusion in the email in the manner discussedabove in connection with FIG. 3.

In some cases, it may not be desirable to send the subscriber an emaileven though a desired trigger has gone off. This may be, for example,because it is not desirable to inundate the subscriber with too manyemails from the system. Thus, the system can check the number of emailssent to the subscriber within the last 30 days (812) and, if that numberis more than one (814), the system can simply ignore the trigger in thesense that no email is generated (816). If there has not been more thanone email recently sent, then the system then instructs the EMGS tobuild and send the email (818). Failed sent message handling (820) canbe built into the system as well, and a retry strategy can be used forthis was well, such as resending the email or setting a retry trigger onthe vehicle (822) so that, rather than simply resending the email a dayor so later, the system can process a new trigger to get the mostup-to-date information available from the vehicle. Failed attempts tosend the email to the user can be logged and a notice placed on thesubscriber center website 190 or MyWAS 188, or sent to the live advisor,or even sent to the vehicle and either noted to the driver via a voicemessage or displayed on a driver information center if the vehicle is soequipped.

Referring back briefly to FIG. 3, it is noted that the exemplary emailreport displayed therein is an initial welcome email that is generatedshortly after enrollment of the subscriber into the email notificationservice, preferably within 24 hours of enrollment. This enrollment andcommencement of the notification service can occur at anytime afterdelivery to the owner or after transference of ownership to a new owner,but in most cases will typically occur at or shortly following initialdelivery of the vehicle by the dealer. When enrollment is carried out inconnection with the delivery of the vehicle by the dealer to an originalowner, the email notification system 100 can be used not only to providethe initial welcome email to the new owner, but also by the manufacturerto obtain initial readings of such things as tire pressure, fluidlevels, etc. This information can be useful to the manufacturer forauditing purposes. In particular, manufacturers often impose apre-delivery inspection requirement on its authorized dealers to helpinsure that its vehicles are delivered to the original owners in aknown, proper condition. For example, the dealer may be required tocheck tire pressure in each of the vehicle tires and adjust the pressureof each tire up or down as necessary to meet pre-established desiredtire pressure values. They may also be required to perform a diagnosticcheck using a scanning tool, and to check fluid levels. By obtainingreadings of these various vehicle conditions at the initial 24 hourtrigger using the telematics unit 120 and vehicle system modules 130,the email notification system 100 can not only provide dynamic vehicledata to the new owner via email, but can also supply the vehicle datafor use by the manufacturer in auditing the pre-delivery inspectionperformance of the dealer. Thus, if a tire pressure value is not at apre-established desired value (which may be at specific value or a rangeof values), this may indicate that the pre-delivery inspection was notcarried out or not carried out properly. Such data can be accumulatedand stored by dealer to obtain a statistically significant amount ofdata that can then be used to determine how well individual dealer iscomplying with its pre-delivery inspection requirement. The data canalso be analyzed by vehicle model which might reflect some problem inthe manufacturing process, such as over inflation of tires coming from aparticular production line.

Referring now to FIG. 9 a, there is shown a first method for obtaininginitial readings of one or more vehicle conditions and then determiningwhether such readings are out of spec. The process begins by enrollmentof a subscriber into the email notification service (900) followed byvehicle data being accessed (902) which can be carried out by an initialcall to the vehicle from VDU 160 to obtain the data or by setting aninitial trigger on the vehicle to occur within or at 24 hours afterenrollment. The vehicle data is then transmitted (904) to the VDU 160.From this, an initial notification message such as the welcome email ofFIG. 3 is constructed (906) and sent (908) to the subscriber. Eitherbefore, during, or after the generation and sending of the email, atleast some of that vehicle data is used to determine if one or morevehicle conditions meet predefined criteria. This can be done, forexample, by comparing the received vehicle data to one or more desiredvalues (910), it being understood that a “desired value” can be a singlevalue or a range of values. The results of this comparison and, ifdesired, the vehicle data itself can then be stored (912) in the VDUdatabase or other appropriate database. The vehicle data used in step(910) can, but need not be, the same vehicle data or type of vehicledata that is sent to the owner in the email message at step (908). Wherethe email notification system 100 is implemented not by the vehiclemanufacturer, but by a third party company, the vehicle data can befirst transmitted to the manufacturer for purposes of the comparisonstep (910). This can be done either by sending raw data or by sendingthe manufacturer a copy of the initial email sent to the subscriber,from which the appropriate data can be pulled by the manufacturer. Ifnecessary, the results of the comparison can be used to generate areport for the manufacturer or dealer such as, for example, where avalue is out of spec or as part of a larger aggregation of data that isthen included in the report.

FIG. 9 b depicts a second method in which the notification system 100receives an indication that the vehicle was delivered to a customer(920) and uses this information to initiate the acquisition andcomparison of initial vehicle readings. This indication can be, forexample, receipt of a customer delivery record (CDR) as discussed abovein connection with FIGS. 5 and 6. Once the indication is received, thesystem accesses the vehicle data (922) which is transmitted (924) backto the VDU 160, compared to the appropriate pre-established values (926)with the results then being stored and used for reporting if appropriate(928). As in FIG. 9 a, the received vehicle data can also be used togenerate and send an email notification to the new owner. Apart from theuse of a CDR, the indication of delivery in step (920) can be determinedbased on various events or indications received by the notificationsystem, such as a request by the subscriber for enrollment into theemail notification service or into a WAS subscription service, and inany of these cases, the vehicle mileage can be obtained and used todetermine if the vehicle is new (e.g., by determining if the vehiclemileage is below a specific number such as 1,000 miles or 400 miles).

In this regard, where an initial mileage trigger (e.g., 400 miletrigger) is set as discussed above in connection with FIG. 6, theoccurrence of this trigger can be used to obtain the vehicle data usedfor dealer pre-delivery inspection auditing. Thus, as shown in FIG. 9 c,the manufacturer initially provides a vehicle having a telematics unit(930) and sets a mileage trigger in the vehicle (932). Then, the vehicleis delivered by the manufacturer to the dealer (934). Subsequently,vehicle data is received back from the telematics unit in response tooccurrence of the mileage trigger (936), and this can be used as anindication that the vehicle has now been delivered by the dealer to theoriginal owner. Thereafter, the vehicle data is compared against thedesired values (938) and the results stored and reported if necessary(940).

A number of other features can be included in the email notificationsystem. Sometimes, a trigger actually occurs at a time when it is notpossible or desirable for the vehicle to call into the VDU. However, thetrigger can be time-stamped by the vehicle so that, when the vehiclenext calls the VDU, the exact time that the trigger occurred can begiven to the VDU. This can also be used to set the system so that callsfrom the vehicle always occur at a certain time or event (e.g., atvehicle start-up). Apart from the subscriber receiving emails as theresult of triggers, the system can allow the user to specificallyrequest an email at any time. As discussed above, this can be by way ofa button press of pushbutton 127 on the vehicle (either by requesting anemail from a live advisor or by using a voice response unit).Alternatively, the subscriber can request this by sending an email to,for example, the EMGS or WAS. The email can be sent to an address of theform VIN@domain.tld, where the VIN is the vehicle identification numberand domain.tld is the domain of the email handling facility. This emailmessage can be used to instruct the VDU to automatically generate animmediate trigger that is sent to the vehicle, executed, and the resultsreturned to the subscriber via the email notification message, so thatthe subscriber gets a quick vehicle status update. This can be useful,for example, to check the vehicle before leaving on vacation.Preferably, each of the emails sent to the subscriber are also providedto the WAS system so that they are accessible to the live advisor.

Apart from retry strategies that are used when a call is dropped, theVDU can also be programmed to monitor for anticipated triggers from eachvehicle so that, for example, if a vehicle is supposed to be calling inon a monthly trigger, but does not, the VDU can call the vehicle todetermine its availability and set a new trigger to obtain diagnosticdata, etc.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description is of one or morepreferred exemplary embodiments of the invention. The invention is notlimited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed herein, but rather isdefined solely by the claims below. Furthermore, the statementscontained in the foregoing description relate to particular embodimentsand are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the inventionor on the definition of terms used in the claims, except where a term orphrase is expressly defined above. Various other embodiments and variouschanges and modifications to the disclosed embodiment(s) will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art. All such other embodiments,changes, and modifications are intended to come within the scope of theappended claims.

As used in this specification and claims, the terms “for example,” “forinstance,” and “such as,” and the verbs “comprising,” “having,”“including,” and their other verb forms, when used in conjunction with alisting of one or more components or other items, are each to beconstrued as open-ended, meaning that that the listing is not to beconsidered as excluding other, additional components or items. Otherterms are to be construed using their broadest reasonable meaning unlessthey are used in a context that requires a different interpretation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of obtaining informationindicative of a condition of a vehicle at delivery to a customer,comprising the steps of: (a) enrolling a subscriber into a vehiclenotification message service following delivery of the vehicle to thesubscriber; (b) accessing pre-delivery inspection vehicle data using atelematics unit of the vehicle; (c) transmitting the pre-deliveryinspection vehicle data from the telematics unit to a central datasystem; (d) comparing, using the central data system, the pre-deliveryinspection vehicle data to benchmarks used to audit the pre-deliveryinspection performance of a dealer; (e) constructing an initialnotification message at the central data system based on the conditionof the vehicle at delivery to the subscriber using the pre-deliveryinspection vehicle data; (f) sending the notification message to thesubscriber via an electronic messaging system.
 2. The method set forthin claim 1, wherein the sending step further comprises sending thenotification message to the vehicle manufacturer and comparing at leastsome of the vehicle data to the benchmarks.
 3. The method set forth inclaim 1, wherein the accessing step further comprises accessing tirepressure data at the vehicle, the constructing step comprisesconstructing the notification message such that it includes the tirepressure data, and the comparing step comprises comparing the tirepressure data with desired tire pressure values.
 4. The method set forthin claim 1, wherein the constructing step further comprisingconstructing the notification message using one or more items of vehicledata and the comparing step further comprises determining whether atleast one vehicle condition meets a predefined criteria using vehicledata that is different than the one or more items of vehicle data. 5.The method set forth in claim 1, wherein the pre-delivery inspectionvehicle data includes tire pressure.
 6. The method set forth in claim 1,wherein the enrolling step further comprises setting an initial triggeron the vehicle, and wherein the accessing step comprises accessing thevehicle data in response to occurrence of the trigger.
 7. The method setforth in claim 1, wherein the accessing, transmitting, comparing,constructing, and sending steps are carried out within twenty four hoursof the enrolling step.
 8. The method set forth in claim 1, wherein theconstructing step further comprises constructing the notificationmessage as an email message using a markup language.
 9. A method ofobtaining information indicative of a condition of a vehicle at deliveryto a customer, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving information from adealer indicating that the customer has taken delivery of the vehicle;(b) accessing vehicle data that indicates the status of vehicleconditions checked during a pre-delivery vehicle inspection using atelematics unit of the vehicle; (c) transmitting the vehicle data fromthe telematics unit to a central data system; and (d) determining, usingthe central data system, whether the status of at least one of thevehicle conditions falls outside of a predefined criteria used to auditthe performance of a vehicle dealer after performing a pre-deliveryinspection.
 10. The method set forth in claim 9, wherein the methodfurther comprises carrying out the receiving step in response to receiptof a customer delivery record from the dealer.
 11. The method set forthin claim 9, wherein the method further comprises carrying out thereceiving step in response to enrollment of the customer in a vehiclenotification message service.
 12. The method set forth in claim 9,wherein the accessing step further comprises accessing tire pressuredata at the vehicle, the transmitting step further comprisestransmitting the tire pressure data to the central data system, and thedetermining step further comprises comparing the tire pressure data withdesired tire pressure values.
 13. The method set forth in claim 9,further comprising the steps of constructing an initial notificationmessage at the central data system using the vehicle data, and sendingthe notification message to the subscriber via an electronic messagingsystem.
 14. The method set forth in claim 13, wherein the step ofconstructing an initial notification message further comprisesconstructing the notification message so that it contains: at least someof the vehicle data represented in language characters, vehicleidentification information unique to the vehicle, and a diagnosticresult indicating whether some action is required to address one or moreof the vehicle conditions.
 15. The method set forth in claim 14, whereinthe step of constructing an initial notification message furthercomprises constructing the notification message as an email messageusing a markup language.
 16. A method of obtaining informationindicative of a condition of a vehicle at delivery to a customer,comprising the steps of: (a) providing a vehicle having a telematicsunit; (b) setting a mileage trigger in the vehicle at a mileage valuethat indicates that the vehicle has recently been delivered by a dealerto a customer; (c) delivering the vehicle to a dealer; (d) receivingmeasured tire pressure data from the telematics unit over a wirelesscommunication system in response to occurrence of the trigger; and (e)comparing, using a central data system, the tire pressure data to arange of desired tire pressure values that a vehicle dealer shouldestablish on the vehicle before delivery to a customer; (f) determiningif the tire pressure data falls within the range of desired tirepressure values; and (g) auditing the pre-delivery inspection complianceof the vehicle dealer based on the determination.
 17. The method setforth in claim 16, further comprising the steps of receiving the tirepressure data from the telematics unit over the wireless communicationsystem and sending a notification message containing the tire pressuredata to the customer via an electronic message system.
 18. The methodset forth in claim 17, further comprising the step of constructing thenotification message as an email message using a markup language. 19.The method set forth in claim 16, wherein the mileage value is no morethan 1,000 miles.
 20. A method of obtaining information indicative of acondition of a vehicle at delivery to a customer, comprising the stepsof: (a) receiving information indicating that the customer has takendelivery of the vehicle from a dealer; (b) accessing vehicle dataindicative of at least one condition of the vehicle at the time ofdelivery of the vehicle to the customer; (c) transmitting the vehicledata from a telematics unit of the vehicle to a central data system; (d)comparing, using the central data system, the vehicle data to at leastone predefined criterion associated with new vehicle deliveries; and (e)determining compliance by the dealer with a pre-delivery inspectionrequirement based at least in part on the comparison in step (d). 21.The method set forth in claim 20, wherein the receiving step furthercomprises receiving an enrollment request from a subscriber.
 22. Themethod set forth in claim 20, wherein the receiving step furthercomprises receiving a communication from the dealer indicating that thecustomer has taken delivery of the vehicle.
 23. The method set forth inclaim 20, wherein the receiving step further comprises detecting amileage trigger indicating that the vehicle has been delivered by thedealer to a customer.